Riding in Ireland
Trip Start
Aug 17, 2009
1
36
43
Trip End
Jul 20, 2010
Where I stayed
Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Muckross, I learned, is the Gaelic name for the point of land where the estate is which juts out into the lake. Muck means boar or pig and ross means peninsula. So its "Pig Peninsula." Muckross sounds nicer. The house was built it in 1843 for the Herbert Family who, in the 1850's undertook a major redesign and refit of the house in preparation for a visit by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. It is believed that preparations for the queen's 2-night visit bankrupted the family and they never recovered. They had hoped that the Queen would give them a title, but as Prince Albert died 6 months after the visit and the Queen went in to mourning, this hoped-for title never came. As a result the house was sold in the late 1800's to Arthur Guinness (yes, as in the beer), who never actually visited, but rented the house out as a hunting lodge. In the 1910s it was bought by a wealthy American as a wedding present for his only daughter. Her sudden death 10 years later prompted her parents and husband to donate the house and lands to the Irish People, becoming the first National Park in Ireland. The house is lovely, but what is more impressive are the grounds. Close to the house there are miles of trails and several gardens, plus there are all the other trails around the National Park that link up to the estate. Also, there are several craft chops on the estate where you can see traditional weaving and pottery and buy products made at the estate.
After spending several hours at Muckross I then visited Ross Castle, which is a reconstructed tower-house. These tower-house's are all over Ireland, I honestly lost count of the number I passed. They are remnants of the Norman Invasion in the 12th century and some were still in use up through the early 1800s. They are pretty simple fortified stone towers where the clan chief usually lived. 4-5 floors with the main living area at the top, then the only bedroom below, then a great hall, usually for official activities, and the bottom floor was for storage and extra sleeping. Pretty small, very cozy, and no privacy. Ross Castle has been reconstructed and furnished with several pieces of furniture that are from the 14th and 15th centuries and I actually found the fact that the park service was able to find pieces from the 14th century more remarkable then the castle.
On Thursday I was able to fulfill a dream, horseback riding in Ireland! I had a 2 hour morning ride through Killarney National Park, just myself and my guide Jeanene. She is French, had been in Ireland for only a few weeks, talk about Globalization in action. An American riding in Ireland with a French guide. Since it was just the 2 of us we were able to do a lot of trotting and cantering through the park, so it was definitely more then a plodding trail ride. My horse, Hercules, was a wonderful companion, very alert and curious. During our ride we started in the fields, then through some peat bogs, forests, along the lake, it was great. I don't have very many pictures because during one particularly brisk canter I managed to launch my camera out of my pocket, didn't realize it until about 10 minutes later, so we had to go back. Jeanene then put it in her zippered pocket. We also rode through several small herds of Red Deer, the only herds left in Ireland are in the park.
When my fantastic ride ended I wanted to drive to this 2500 year-old ring fort I had seen a sign for during my Ring of Kerry drive on Tuesday. Before I could get there I stopped at a pull of and saw a sign for a cafe that was supposed to be a 15 minute walk along one of the hiking trails. It was more like a 30 minute walk, but I found the cafe and had a lovely lunch before walking back to my car. I gave up on the ring fort, since I really didn't remember where along the Ring of Kerry I had seen the sign and instead headed back towards my hotel. On the spur of the moment I pulled into a parking lot for Muckross Abbey and did the 45 minute walk back to the ruined abbey. Then it was back to my hotel to repack, then treating myself to dinner and dessert in the hotel restaurant and then bed. Next up....a 3 1/2 hour drive to Dublin.
Comments
Awesome Heather! The history just oozes! Beautiful pics!